If you’re not familiar with the term “showmance” or “PRomance,” it’s when two celebrities who are tied to a project start dating for the duration of the project and then break up once it’s over. It does the job of generating buzz for the project and feeding crumbs to rabid fans. Here are some of my personal fave fake PR relationships — confirmed and alleged!!! — and press tour flirtationships throughout the years:1. Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson for The Naked Gun in 2025:
Bravo / Getty Images
Earlier this summer, Pamela Anderson and Liam Needson allegedly faked a relationship to help generate buzz for their comedy, The Naked Gun. Both claim that their relationship was real, but the pair quietly/conveniently ended things after the press tour.
Related: Trevor Noah Shared His Surprising Theory On Why Donald Trump Is So Triggered By Jimmy Kimmel
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images
During the press run for this unexpected rom-com hit, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell sparked romance rumors, even though they were both in committed relationships at the time. Months after the buzz of the film died down, they both came out and said there was nothing romantic between them, just a genuine friendship. Sweeney was in a relationship with Jonathan Davino from 2018 to 2025, and Powell was in a relationship with model Gigi Paris from 2020 to 2023.
3. Dianna Agron and Alex Pettyfer for I Am Number Four in 2011:
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Dianna Agron and Alex Pettyfer met on the set of I Am Number Four and ended things days after the film’s premiere in 2011. They didn’t end on good terms — Agron moved out of their shared home and into a hotel under an alias in order to avoid Pettyfer. Since then, Agron has been linked to Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans, and was married to former Mumford & Sons bandmember Winston Marshall from 2016 to 2020; Pettyfer was married to model Toni Garn from 2020 to 2023.
4. Lana Candor and Noah Centineo for To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before in 2018:
Rich Fury / Getty Images
The first installation of the To All The Boys franchise was a massive hit and in the following weeks/months, both Lana Condor and Noah Centineo leaned into their onscreen chemistry with cute comments on each other’s social media accounts and adorable posts on IG. However, Condor has been in a relationship with Anthony de la Torre since 2015, and Centineo was in a relationship with model Alexis Ren from 2019 to 2020.
5. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson for Twilight from 2009 to 2013:
Fred Duval / Getty Images
Even though at the time, Twihards rejoiced at the off-screen/IRL coupling of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, in recent years, fans and critics believe that their relationship may have been all for show. The two of them were linked between 2009 and 2013 (with a brief break in 2012 during the scandal between Stewart and her Snow White director Rupert Sanders) before going their separate ways (coincidentally after the final Twilight film wrapped up its press tour). Since then, Stewart has been with her now-wife, screenwriter Dylan Meyer, since 2019, and Pattinson was in a relationship with musician FKA Twigs from 2014 to 2017 and has been with model/singer Suki Waterhouse since 2018.
Related: 53 Facts So Absurdly Random That My Brain Refuses To Accept Them As Reality
6. Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes for “Señorita” in 2019:
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Fans never truly fully believed the on-again/off-again relationship between Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes that lasted from 2019 to 2021. It didn’t help that their relationship was tied to their hit single “Señorita,” but I digress.
7. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper for A Star Is Born in 2018:
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Romance rumors sparked after Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s intimate performance of “Shallow” at that year’s Oscars. However, it was later confirmed that, even though the two of them shared an “instant connection,” their relationship was strictly platonic. Since 2020, Gaga has been in a relationship with venture capitalist Michael Polansky, and Cooper has been in a relationship with model Gigi Hadid since 2023.
Related: 19 “Harry Potter” Stars Have Publicly Taken Sides On J.K. Rowling, And The Cast Is Basically Divided
8. Victoria Justice and Pierson Fodé for Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List in 2015:
Joe Scarnici / Getty Images
Not as high profile as some other couples on this list, so there isn’t as much information on them, but rumors swirled around a relationship between Victoria Justice and Pierson Fodé, The couple began dating while on set in 2013 and broke up in 2015 after the film’s release. Interesting timing!
9. Shailene Woodley and Theo James for Divergent in 2014:
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Despite their blazing onscreen chemistry in the Divergent series, Shailene Woodley and Theo James never officially dated, though they may have played into the rumors for publicity. James has been with his now-wife since 2009, and Woodley dated football player Aaron Rodgers from 2020 to 2022 and briefly dated Lucas Bravo in 2025.
10. Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck for Deep Water in 2020:
Bg004 / Getty Images
Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck’s romance became public when photos of them during the COVID-19 lockdown walking their dogs and quarantining together surfaced all over the internet. I should note that their ~romance~ aligned with the original promotional timeline/release of their film, Deep Water, which was pushed from November 2020 to March 2022. Since then, de Armas has been linked to Tom Cruise, and Affleck rekindled his relationship with Jennifer Lopez in 2022, but they divorced in 2025.
11. Zoë Kravitz and Austin Butler for Caught Stealing in 2025:
John Nacion / Getty Images
Rumors sparked about a potential romance between Zoë Kravitz and Austin Butler during their press tour for Caught Stealing. Kravitz recently ended her engagement with Channing Tatum, and Butler recently ended his relationship with Kaia Gerber. Despite their palpable chemistry onscreen and flirty banter during their press tour, both Kravitz and Butler stated that their relationship is platonic.
12. Tessa Thompson and Michael B. Jordan for Creed from 2015 to 2023:
Karwai Tang / Getty Images
Tessa Thompson and Michael B. Jordan were onscreen lovers in three Creed films spanning almost 10 years. The pair even went to couples counseling to make their onscreen love seem more realistic. Despite rumors and palpable chemistry, Thompson and Jordan maintain that their relationship is nothing but platonic. Jordan was in a relationship with model Lori Harvey from 2020 to 2022.
13. Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac for Scenes from a Marriage in 2021:
Elisabetta A. Villa / Getty Images
Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac have been friends for over 20 years — the two went to Juilliard together. Their friendship was dialed up to 1,000% after filming the very intimate film Scenes from a Marriage. Despite their intense press tour, the pair are JUST friends with great chemistry. Both Chastain and Isaac have been with their spouses, the former with Italian nobleman and fashion mogul Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo, and the latter with Danish documentarian Elvira Lind, since 2012.
Can you think of any other celeb pairs who dialed up the chemistry in the wake of their upcoming projects? Share them in the comments.
Also in Celebrity: These Movies Were So Catastrophically Awful, The Stars Were Nearly Exiled From Hollywood Forever
Also in Celebrity: 38 Out-Of-Touch Celebrity Moments That Screamed, “It’s One Banana, Michael, How Much Could It Cost? $10?”
Also in Celebrity: I Have Been Decoding Taylor Swift Easter Eggs For Over A Decade, So Here Are 15 “The Life Of A Showgirl” Clues And Fan Theories I 113% Believe